The CSIRO Chiswick Field Station near Armidale in Northern NSW has been announced as the successful candidate site to host the 4th Merino Lifetime Performance (MLP) project flock, following a national expression of interest process.
The AWI-funded MLP project is a $4m, 10-year partnership between AWI, the Australian Merino Sire Evaluation Association, and participating stud Merino breeders and site hosts around Australia, which aims to increase the understanding of the genetic capacity for the Merino ewe to deliver high quality wool, lambs and meat throughout its life.
Up to 135 sires are to be joined to 90 ewes to generate the F1 ewe progeny that will form the basis of the project. At the conclusion of the standard sire evaluation at 1.5 to 2 years of age, AWI will support the ongoing measurement and visual classing of all F1 ewe progeny through four to five joinings and annual shearings.
By exploring the impact of selecting rams and ewes using early age performance the MLP is fine-tuning genetic selection processes and providing confidence in breeding and selection approaches.
The project is taking place at sites within four significant sheep producing regions: Balmoral in western Victoria, Temora in the Riverina of NSW, Pingelly in the Great Southern region of WA, and the newly announced site near Armidale in the New England region of NSW which offers the combination of summer dominant rainfall environment and superfine Merino base ewes on the world-class CSIRO sheep research facility at Chiswick Field Station.